New premiums are effective from 1 April 2021. We will be in touch with you from late February to let you know the details of your new premium, at which point this information will also be available for you to view online via My Medibank.

Healthcare costs continue to rise due to a range of factors including increased cost of health services, the growing use and cost of medical technology, Australia’s ageing population and an increase in chronic health conditions.

The 1 April 2021 premium change will be our lowest average increase in 20 years.

If you’re doing it tough, contact us via phone, 24/7 online chat, or visit us in store to talk through your options.

Included within a $185 million Medibank Support Package was the six month postponement of the 1 April 2020 premium increases along with a variety of resources and programs to support our members. Click here to find out more. Many of these initiatives will continue to play a vital role in helping our members in the future. For example:

• Extending eligible extras covers to permanently include telehealth services for 7 allied health services such as psychology and physiotherapy¹. Find out more
• Launching COVID-19 Health Support², a program of personalised health and wellbeing support at home for eligible members.
• Introducing Live Better at Home to give all Australians access to a free online program of work out videos, cooking demonstrations and guided meditations, and partnering with Smiling Mind on a program to help foster positive mental health habits among Australian families.
• Donating $5 million to Beyond Blue for its new COVID-19 mental wellbeing and support service.
• Access to Medibank’s 24/7 Nurse and Mental Health lines³.
• Providing 400 nurses to help run the national COVID line.

We know how important affordable health cover is to you and have been working to provide better support and value for members. In order to do so, we’ve worked hard to take costs out of our business and delivered $20 million of productivity savings in the 2020 financial year. We have also committed to another $50 million of cost reduction over the next 3 years.

We’ve worked hard to reduce costs as a deliberate strategy to provide our product at the best possible price for our customers.  For example, our members wanted more control over where and when to get treatment, so we developed Medibank at Home, a group of trial programs that bring hospital care right into the homes of our eligible members, where available, providing them with choice and flexibility over where they receive their treatment.

We're tackling increasing healthcare costs in a number of ways:

• Investing in primary care programs for eligible members with chronic conditions to help them stay out of hospital.
• Partnering with the healthcare sector to support better health outcomes for members.
• Launching the Live Better programme to help Australians get healthy and stay healthy - and be rewarded for doing so.⁴
• Providing the young adult discount on eligible hospital covers.
• Conducting regular cover reviews to ensure that you are always on the right cover for you and that you get the most out of it.

We can't charge you less for not using your cover or charge you more for using it. Private health insurance in Australia must meet the government's community rating requirements. This means everyone has access to the same insurance products at the same base price, regardless of their health or claiming behaviour.

The main reason for premium change is to keep pace with the rising cost of healthcare and the increasing need for healthcare. We're living longer, chronic conditions are on the rise and we enjoy some of the best healthcare in the world. Your specific premium change depends on several factors, such as the state you live in, the type of cover you're on, and the general claiming pattern of members.

We’ve been working hard to ensure our members can get better value from their membership. Depending on what’s included in your policy, (check your cover summary to find out more) you may be able to:

• access to Medibank’s 24/7 Nurse and Mental Health lines.³
• get 100% back on two dental check-ups a year at a Members’ Choice Advantage dentist.⁶
• get 100% back on optical items like frames, prescription glasses, contacts and more at recognised providers, up to your annual limits. (some lens coatings are excluded).
• at Specsavers, get two pairs of prescription designer glasses, including standard single-vision lenses, with no gap.^⁸
• get member discounts on Pet, Travel and Life Insurance.

And with our Live Better rewards program, we’re rewarding you for looking after your health.  You can:

• access free, active and social activities across the country (such as parkrun and outdoor fitness classes) or exercise from home with a range of videos from our Live Better at Home library
• access expert health information, recipe inspiration, exercise tips and online courses to support your health
• if you are an eligible Medibank member, earn Live Better reward points and use them towards a gift card, savings of $200 on your health cover or get more on your extras like a remedial massage or physio service - simply by taking a broad range of healthy actions.

The private hospital system gives you peace of mind and choice. 

Shorter wait times: For in-hospital procedures that are considered non-life-threatening or elective, you’re likely to be treated sooner as a private patient in a private hospital. If it’s a condition that affects your ability to work or causes pain, this becomes especially important.

Choice over your specialist: There’s a lot to be said for being able to choose your preferred specialist as a private patient in a private hospital; even more so if you’re embarking on a health journey like pregnancy, or if it’s a serious illness and your life is quite literally in their hands.

A private room: You are more likely to get the calm and comfort of a private room while in a private hospital (provided one is available and is appropriate for your clinical needs). 

Extras: Your Medibank extras cover is there to help with your day-to-day health and could even prevent smaller issues from becoming bigger ones. But you do need to know what’s included under your cover to make the most of it. You can check this through the Medibank mobile app or by logging into My Medibank.

It’s also important to make sure you’re on the right type of cover for where you’re at in life; and that’s why we’re encouraging all our members to take another look at their cover. Give us a call on 132 331 and we’ll take you through a cover review.